The Box

In the latest episode of the Harry Evans v Toby Young feud, Evans, the husband of Tina Brown and editorial director of the NY Daily News, has told another New York paper, "I worry that if I stop screwing up, he [Young] won't have a livelihood. I might have to walk naked down Fifth Avenue so he has something to write about."

Perhaps Evans won't have to disrobe and go for an urban ramble quite yet. One of his employees at the Daily News has reported that Evans is having difficulty finding his way around his new offices. Every time he goes to the lavatory, he has to ask for directions back to his desk. And there is another report indicating that battle fatigue may already be taking its toll on the valiant former Sunday Times editor. Not long ago the telephone rang in the home of a London friend of his. When she picked up the receiver, she was stunned to hear Harry say, "Hello, could I speak to Harry Evans please."

Word circulating around the Law Society is that the Lord Chancellor is seeking to move the start of the legal year from October 1st. The ostensible reason? The fancy dress parade that accompanies this annual judicial milestone will clash with this year's Labour Conference. However, so the rumour goes, there is some resistance to the postponement from both the legal profession and the Labour Party. Neither would be exactly heartbroken if Lord Irvine was occupied elsewhere.

Fundamentalist Christians in the US have proclaimed a new "Eleventh Commandment" for the Clinton White House. "Thy shalt not put thy rod in thine staff."

British documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield's investigative epic about the suicide of Kurt Cobain, Kurt and Courtney, finally got its premiere screening in San Francisco on Friday evening. This followed Courtney Love's success in having the film yanked out of the Sundance Festival in January.

"She sent a last minute threatening letter to the Roxy Cinema on Friday," reports Broomfield, "but they went ahead and showed it anyway. The premiere was like a zoo. It was great."

Among those in the audience were Sean Penn, his wife Robin Wright, Divine Brown (Hugh Grant's brief acquaintance) and a wild assortment of San Francisco Mission District denizens. Miss Love, who is Cobain's widow and a former member of his grunge group Nirvana, has gone on to achieve a high profile as a screen actress.

"As far as I know, Courtney hasn't seen the film. It looks at all the conspiracy theories and concludes that none of them are true," says Broomfield. The BBC helped finance the project and owns the UK distribution rights. Britain's Generation X-ers just can't wait.

Since The Angel of the North, the colossal sculpture by Anthony Gormley, was erected outside Gateshead two weeks ago, local residents have been trying to adapt to this massive arrival on the town's windswept horizon. Now they've come up with a nickname that should put the ambitious artwork into proper perspective. They're calling it (see picture) "The Gateshead Flasher".